acificWALLA WALLA, Wash. - Kaylie McCracken led all scorers with 18 points, Makana Stone did her usual damage with 16 points and 10 rebounds and the No. 7 Whitman College women's basketball team clinched a share of the Northwest Conference regular season title with a 70-53 win over No. 18 George Fox on Friday night at the Sherwood Center.

Mady Burdett added 16 points, 12 coming from three pointers, as the Blues (20-2, 12-1 NWC) won their first regular season title since the 2013-14 season. The hot-shooting Blues shot just shy of 50% for the game and north of 41% from the beyond the arc. McCracken was a handful for Bruin defenders, shooting 6-7 from the floor and 5-6 from the free throw line.

Cassidy Posey led the Bruins with 12 points off the bench, and Emily Holder and Kylin Collman both adding 10 points.

Whitman took it to the Bruins early. After an opening bucket from George Fox, the Blues took over and quickly opened up a nine-point lead. Burdett nailed back-to-back three pointers then got to the hoop for two more as Whitman led 12-3 with 4:09 to play. The momentum stayed with the Blues as Burdett hit yet another triple to carry her team into the second quarter up 19-8.

The matchup became as advertised when George Fox rallied in the second quarter. The Blues led by as many as 15 points on McCracken's layup, but the Bruins responded with 10 unanswered points to shave the lead to 27-22. Poor ball handling by the Blues led to a handful of George Fox points as the Bruins shaved the deficit to a single point. Stone hit on a baseline jumper inside of one minute to play and helped her team take a 32-29 lead into halftime.

Burdett scored early as the two teams retook the court for the third quarter, but George Fox quickly tied up the game. Haley Strowbridge and Holder both hit from the floor and the score was tied at 34-34 exactly two minutes into the quarter. It was Whitman's turn to catch fire as the Blues went on a 15-4 run to force a George Fox timeout. Lily Gustafson hit on back-to-back shots, the second an and-one to help the Blues regain the double digit lead they held in the first half.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Blues. Stone nailed a jumper to put Whitman up 51-41 and the lead never slipped below double digits again. The signature display of Whitman's teamwork came inside of three minutes to play. Natalie Whitesel found a cutting Burdett in the paint. Burdett kicked the ball out to the corner to Kaelan Shamseldin who swung the ball back around through Whitesel. The result - a McCracken jumper off the glass to ice the game.

The Blues close out the weekend with a senior day matchup on Saturday vs. Pacific (Ore.). Tip set for 4:00 p.m.